If you share your life with someone who goes by the name of Dirk, you will understand my anxiety when I learned that someone's beloved Dirk was suddenly no longer there, kidnapped by drunkards and taken into an uncertain future.Learning then, that he was returned, alive and kicking despite of all adversities and untold dangers...That's something!

I guess that Peaches, Dirk's wife, has lived through some difficult moments until she finally had her Dirk back. If I am already so happy, how must it have been for her who, as everyone knows, mates only once in life for ever with someone, regardless of gender.

Unfortunately, the reunion celebration à deux has apparently taken place in secret, as I was not able to come up with a pic showing the two lovely penguin love-birds reunited. But that means only one who lives with a Dirk ...))

Photo: Luke Marsden

Dirk, a fairy penguin stolen from an Australian marine park, has been safely returned, but not before being hounded by a dog and chased by another animal, possibly a shark.

Police allege three young men broke into Sea World on Queensland's Gold Coast on Saturday night after a wodka binge, swam in the dolphin enclosure and then stole seven-year-old Dirk as they made their escape.

The little bird was found, exhausted but otherwise well, yesterday after a couple spotted him in a nearby shallow estuary.

"They heard a scuffle in the water, and this penguin came out onto the sand," Sea World's director of marine sciences Trevor Long told reporters.

"They thought it was very, very unusual, so they got on to their iPhone and googled 'lost penguin'. That came up with the story, and from there they were able to contact us." Long said the couple saw the captive-bred penguin get chased out of the water by another animal -- possibly a shark -- before it was then herded back in by a dog. Sea World workers eventually came to retrieve him.

The penguin, who had never been in the wild before and is part of a breeding colony, has since been reunited with his mate Peaches.

"These penguins do mate for life and that's why it was so important to get this bird back," Long said.

Police have charged three men over the theft after they were tipped off by a member of the public, after the trio reportedly posted about their exploits on Facebook.

The three, aged 18, 20 and 21, now deeply regretting their actions, have been charged with trespassing, stealing and unlawfully keeping a protected animal. They allegedly told police they released Dirk into the Broadwater, not realising how much they put Dirk at risk as it is a waterway known for its sharks.They were fined $1000 each by Magistrate Brian Kucks who said they'd been lucky not
to have drunkenly stumbled into the polar bear enclosure.

The penguin, meanwhile, is recovering.

"He was extremely dishevelled, he was quite exhausted last night after we did catch him but ... he's settled down well," Long said.

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